Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate

Company: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate, Parsippany, New Jersey, U.S.A.
Entry Submitted By: Kwittken & Company
Company Description: Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate is an international real estate brand that offers a full range of services to brokers, sales associates and home buyers and sellers. Using innovative technology, sophisticated business systems and the broad appeal of a lifestyle brand, BHGRE embodies the future of the real estate industry while remaining grounded in the tradition of home.
Nomination Category: Individual Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Executive – Service Businesses – up to 100 Employees

Nomination Title: Sherry Chris, President and CEO

Describe for the judges the activities and accomplishments of the nominated executive during the eligibility period (up to 500 words):

Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate (BHGRE) CEO Sherry Chris spent the past
year continuing to defy conventional wisdom by gaining momentum in a down
housing market and rallying a depressed industry. She reinvigorated real estate
franchising by flying around the country brokering deals, keynoting conferences,
lending time to industry leadership boards and remaining a hands-on manager
leading her firm with an agenda of early adoption and expansion of innovative
technology. In the past 12 months she has more than doubled the size of the
company and has been celebrated as a visionary for her approach to the service
business.

Sherry was named 2010 Inman Innovator of the Year, an award honoring individuals
going above and beyond the traditional tools used by the real estate industry to
enhance the transaction process for consumers and real estate professionals.
The award came in the midst of a continued growth spurt in which she more than
doubled the size of the firm.

Recently, Sherry led the largest new brand affiliation in history of her parent
company Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation
services. Her deal to sign Pleasanton, CA-based Mason-McDuffie Real Estate
added 1,900 agents and $2.8 billion in sales to BHGRE and put the firm squarely
in the busy Northern California and Western Nevada markets.

This followed a December 2009 announcement that Georgia’s largest real estate
broker signed a long-term franchise agreement and would operate under the name
Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate Metro Brokers. At the time, the move
doubled the size of the Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate network.

Simultaneously, Sherry pushed the franchise to the forefront of social media
adoption, leveraging an astute appreciation for emerging technology. She, along
with her team, instituted social media boot camp classes for new agents and made
her Clean Slate blog a closely watched source of information for those seeking
to learn more about the leading technology of the day.

She even conducted an on-camera interview with Dennis Crowley, Founder & CEO of
FourSquare. Further, she has been blogging multiple times a week lending
perspective on industry news as well as the latest social media, technology,
marketing and advertising stories.

No other real estate firm has taken the concept of color theory and home staging
as far as when Sherry surprised the competition this May by partnering with
Pantone, the world authority on color. BHGRE created a series of feature film
quality vignettes designed to clearly illustrate the link between color, emotion
and the home buying decision process.

Sherry guides the content on the BHGRE Website to speak not only to the
mechanics of buying a house, but the aesthetics of making a home. The Website is
unique in its focus on substance and services for the consumer lifestyle. It is
designed to mimic the natural home research process and allow the BHGRE network
to leverage its content to build their own direct brand experiences in their
local marketplace.

Few chief executives can claim to have covered as much ground as Sherry has in
the past year.

List the URLs (web addresses) of any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that you would like the judges to see that support your entry. IMPORTANT: List each URL on a separate line, begin each URL with http://, and enclose each URL in square brackets. For example, [http://www.yourcompany.com/pressrelease.html]:

Videos
http://www.bhgrealestate.com/Views/Video/

Blog
http://bhgrealestateblog.com/author/sherrychris/

Articles
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2010/03/10/can-your-iphone-tell-you-which-house-to-buy/
http://www.inman.com/news/2009/12/7/metro-brokers-joins-bhg-network
http://www.marketingpower.com/ResourceLibrary/MarketingNews/Pages/2009/43/5/Better_Homes.aspx

Provide a brief biography of the nominated executive (up to 100 words):

Sherry Chris has more than 27 years of real estate experience, including
significant senior management positions in the areas of sales marketing and new
technologies, and franchise management. Prior to her current role, she was COO
for Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC. She began her real estate career in Canada
and held increasingly senior positions with Royal LePage and executive roles
with Real Living and Prudential CA/NV/TX Realty.

She has served, and continues to serve, on a number of industry- and
technology-related advisory boards, including Trulia and Google Real Estate, and
she is a past chairman of The Realty Alliance.

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Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate